Rebecca Clouâtre, an award-winning artist, has returned to her hometown of North Bay with a new exhibition titled *Remnants* at the Good Atlas Gallery. The show emerged from a period of slow living at a cottage on Lake Nosbonsing, where she used her daughter's handheld digital microscope and iPhone to photograph overlooked natural materials like moss, birch bark, and lichen, transforming them into immersive abstract collages. Clouâtre won the 1st place People's Choice Award in the international ART COMP competition in 2023 and has exhibited across Canada, the U.S., and Australia.
This exhibition matters because it highlights a growing artistic trend toward bioregionalism and deep attention to local environments as a form of resistance to digital distraction, inspired by Jenny Odell's *How to Do Nothing*. Clouâtre's work also underscores the importance of intergenerational creativity and play, as she collaborated with her daughter in the discovery process. Her return to North Bay and upcoming teaching role at Nipissing University signal a reinvestment in local arts education and community engagement.